Vulnerabilities > CVE-2018-11749 - Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information vulnerability in Puppet Enterprise

047910
CVSS 5.0 - MEDIUM
Attack vector
NETWORK
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
NONE
Confidentiality impact
PARTIAL
Integrity impact
NONE
Availability impact
NONE
network
low complexity
puppet
CWE-319
nessus

Summary

When users are configured to use startTLS with RBAC LDAP, at login time, the user's credentials are sent via plaintext to the LDAP server. This affects Puppet Enterprise 2018.1.3, 2017.3.9, and 2016.4.14, and is fixed in Puppet Enterprise 2018.1.4, 2017.3.10, and 2016.4.15. It scored an 8.5 CVSS score.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
Application
Puppet
94

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Session Sidejacking
    Session sidejacking takes advantage of an unencrypted communication channel between a victim and target system. The attacker sniffs traffic on a network looking for session tokens in unencrypted traffic. Once a session token is captured, the attacker performs malicious actions by using the stolen token with the targeted application to impersonate the victim. This attack is a specific method of session hijacking, which is exploiting a valid session token to gain unauthorized access to a target system or information. Other methods to perform a session hijacking are session fixation, cross-site scripting, or compromising a user or server machine and stealing the session token.
  • Footprinting
    An attacker engages in probing and exploration activity to identify constituents and properties of the target. Footprinting is a general term to describe a variety of information gathering techniques, often used by attackers in preparation for some attack. It consists of using tools to learn as much as possible about the composition, configuration, and security mechanisms of the targeted application, system or network. Information that might be collected during a footprinting effort could include open ports, applications and their versions, network topology, and similar information. While footprinting is not intended to be damaging (although certain activities, such as network scans, can sometimes cause disruptions to vulnerable applications inadvertently) it may often pave the way for more damaging attacks.
  • Harvesting Usernames or UserIDs via Application API Event Monitoring
    An attacker hosts an event within an application framework and then monitors the data exchanged during the course of the event for the purpose of harvesting any important data leaked during the transactions. One example could be harvesting lists of usernames or userIDs for the purpose of sending spam messages to those users. One example of this type of attack involves the attacker creating an event within the sub-application. Assume the attacker hosts a "virtual sale" of rare items. As other users enter the event, the attacker records via MITM proxy the user_ids and usernames of everyone who attends. The attacker would then be able to spam those users within the application using an automated script.
  • Signature Spoofing by Mixing Signed and Unsigned Content
    An attacker exploits the underlying complexity of a data structure that allows for both signed and unsigned content, to cause unsigned data to be processed as though it were signed data.
  • Passively Sniff and Capture Application Code Bound for Authorized Client
    Attackers can capture application code bound for the client and can use it, as-is or through reverse-engineering, to glean sensitive information or exploit the trust relationship between the client and server. Such code may belong to a dynamic update to the client, a patch being applied to a client component or any such interaction where the client is authorized to communicate with the server.

Nessus

NASL familyCGI abuses
NASL idPUPPET_ENTERPRISE_2018_1_4.NASL
descriptionA plaintext credential vulnerability exists when users are configured to use startTLS with Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). An unauthenticated, remote attacker can exploit this to bypass authentication to see the users credentials in plaintext. (CVE-2018-11749)
last seen2020-06-01
modified2020-06-02
plugin id129762
published2019-10-09
reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/129762
titlePuppet Enterprise 2016.x < 2016.4.15 / 2017.x < 2017.3.10 / 2018.x < 2018.1.4 Plaintext Credential Vulnerability
code
#
# (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
#

include("compat.inc");

if (description)
{
  script_id(129762);
  script_version("1.2");
  script_cvs_date("Date: 2019/10/17 14:31:04");

  script_cve_id("CVE-2018-11749");

  script_name(english:"Puppet Enterprise 2016.x < 2016.4.15 / 2017.x < 2017.3.10 / 2018.x < 2018.1.4 Plaintext Credential Vulnerability");
  script_summary(english:"Checks the Puppet Enterprise version.");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"synopsis", value:
"A web application running on the remote host is affected by multiple
vulnerabilities.");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"description", value:
"A plaintext credential vulnerability exists when users are configured to use
 startTLS with Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Lightweight Directory Access
 Protocol (LDAP). An unauthenticated, remote attacker 
 can exploit this to bypass authentication to see the users credentials in 
 plaintext. (CVE-2018-11749)");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"see_also", value:"https://puppet.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-11749");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"solution", value:
"Upgrade to Puppet Enterprise version 2016.4.15 / 2017.3.10 / 2018.1.4 or later.");
  script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N");
  script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C");
  script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H");
  script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cvss_score_source", value:"CVE-2018-11749");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2018/08/23");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2018/08/23");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2019/10/09");

  script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"remote");
  script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/a:puppetlabs:puppet");
  script_end_attributes();

  script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
  script_family(english:"CGI abuses");

  script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2019 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");

  script_dependencies("puppet_enterprise_console_detect.nasl", "puppet_rest_detect.nasl");
  script_require_keys("puppet/rest_port", "installed_sw/puppet_enterprise_console");

  exit(0);
}

include('vcf.inc');
include('http.inc');

app = 'Puppet REST API'; # we get both enterprise and open-source versions from the api...

# Make sure we detected a version 
port = get_kb_item_or_exit('puppet/rest_port');
ver = get_kb_item_or_exit('puppet/' + port + '/version');

# Make sure the Console service is running
get_kb_item_or_exit('installed_sw/puppet_enterprise_console');

app_info = vcf::get_app_info(app:app, port:port, webapp:TRUE, kb_ver: 'puppet/' + port + '/version');

# version info obtained from https://puppet.com/docs/pe/2018.1/component_versions_in_recent_pe_releases.html
constraints = [
  {"min_version" : "4.0.0", "fixed_version" : "4.10.12", "fixed_display" : "Puppet Enterprise (2016.4.15)"},
  {"min_version" : "5.3.0", "fixed_version" : "5.3.7" , "fixed_display" : "Puppet Enterprise (2017.3.10)"},
  {"min_version" : "5.5.0", "fixed_version" : "5.5.6" , "fixed_display" : "Puppet Enterprise (2018.1.4)" } 
];

vcf::check_version_and_report(app_info:app_info, constraints:constraints, severity:SECURITY_WARNING);